Diana Ghalib Abdul Karim Mazid

I want him to relax’

This morning, I visited Damon Prison in Upper Carmel to meet with prisoner Diana Ghalib Abdul Karim Mazid (born 11 March 2001) from the village of Anabta/Tulkarem.

‘Today they oppressed us right after dawn,’ Diana greeted me, telling me the details of the morning's oppression. "They threw Um Khalil (a 70-year-old woman from Gaza) on the ground and forced a woman with heart disease to sit on the ground against her will, causing her blood pressure to drop. Two units stormed the section, the prison guards and the Yamas (wearing black) searched the rooms, one of them completely naked – not our room – and all the time there was shouting and swearing. Today there is no outburst. They took out Ruba (Kholia) and she has to distribute the food within half an hour."

She told me about her cellmates in cell number 3 (Shatiya, Yasmin Shaaban, Banan Abu Al-Hija, Shahd Hassan, and Rabia Dar Nasser) and the other female prisoners in the detention centre, and about the miserable conditions in Damon Prison.

She told me about the arrest at dawn on 31 May 2025. Four military battalions stormed the house, two jeeps with armoured plating and one regular jeep, about twenty male and female soldiers. They broke down the door of the house and took out the family. The officer recognised me and asked for my mobile phone. They searched the house chaotically, going through everything, taking my identity card, pulling my hair because I insisted on wearing my niqab, They handcuffed me, blindfolded me, and beat me. The journey of torment continued through the Nitzani Oz crossing (a settlement within the 1948 borders on Tulkarm land) and the path of pain (they took me to a room where there were three young men who were handcuffed and blindfolded, and after a few hours they brought in another detainee). At 12 noon, they transferred me to the notorious Sharon prison, where I was subjected to a humiliating and degrading search, insults and curses. Sanaa Daqqa was in the same cell. Then I was taken for interrogation in Salem until the arrival of the Damoun.

Suddenly, I felt a little relieved; I missed my fiancé Jawad, who never forgets to pray for me, and my mother.

I asked her to convey warm greetings to her parents and to check on Tala and Adam (her sister Arin's children), Zayd (her brother Qass's son), and how Qass's wife was doing with her pregnancy. Where was her sister Nicole (her brother Ahmad's wife) travelling to? She also wanted to check on Adam and his studies, and to convey her regards.

She asked to convey her greetings and concern to her brother Mumin, who is detained in the Authority's prisons in Jericho.

Eid al-Fitr to everyone in my name.

Suddenly she said: "Next Wednesday, 18 June, discussion of graduation project (industrial engineering student, An-Najah University).

I filed a complaint about the loss of my niqab. ‘I need it for recreation.’

My dear Diana, best regards, and freedom to you and all the free women of Damoun.

Haifa, 10 June 2025